As clashes continue today
in southern Iraq and Baghdad, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has given
the Mahdi Army three days to surrender and turn over their weapons. Overall, 76
Iraqis were killed and 367 more were wounded throughout Iraq. One British
and two American soldiers were also killed in separate incidents.

Fighting between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi
security forces backed
by U.S. air support left
dozens dead and hundreds injured, mostly in Basra and Baghdad. Prime Minister
al-Maliki has ordered the militia to surrender; however, the eruption is violence
is due to a new security campaign in Basra. There is sentiment in the Mahdi Army
that the government is unfairly targeting them and other followers of Shi'ite
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Last August, al-Sadr ordered his followers to
observe a cease-fire, which left them vulnerable to attacks from rival groups,
particularly those in government. If the cease-fire dissolves it could mean a
long-term increase in violence targeting both U.S. troops and Iraqis. A draw-down
in American troops in Iraq could also be at risk. The truce is still in effect
so far, and al-Maliki has asked
for talks.

Meanwhile, a chief rival group, the Badr Organization, has
denied
involvement in the fighting and blamed oil smugglers for stoking the situation.

Clashing occurred
in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City as well, but no casualty figures were
released until today. At least 14
were killed there and another 140 were wounded over the last two days. This
poor section of the capital is named for al-Sadr's father, but was formerly known
as Saddam City. An IED wounded
two civilians at the al-Fallah intersection.

U.S. forces killed
five Iraqi civilians, including a judge, and wounded
10 others during an air strike in Tikrit. The injured were
all women and children. One of the dead was a 10-year-old girl. In a separate
incident, a body
bearing torture marks was brought in to the morgue; an Awakening Council (Sahwa)
has been implicated in the death.